Occupy’s Frankfurt Camp Is Closed as Health Hazard

Source: NYT

Police in riot gear methodically cleared a tent city at the doorstep of the European Central Bank on Monday, ending months of tolerance for the encampment, following complaints that it had become more of an eyesore and health hazard than a protest against global capitalism.

After a court rejected an appeal by protesters, officers surrounded the park next to the downtown building that houses the bank, blocked off the adjacent streets and began dismantling tents.

Protesters argued with the police, beat drums and played loud rap music, but there appeared to be no physical confrontation. Some people were carried or escorted from the site by the police, but the authorities said there were no arrests by early evening.

Though Frankfurt is a center of global finance and the seat of monetary policy for the euro zone, the city adopted a laid-back attitude toward its local Occupy protest movement when it began in October. By contrast, the New York police arrested nearly 200 people when they cleared the Occupy Wall Street camp at Zuccotti Park in November, about two months after protesters began gathering there. And in Oakland, Calif., police officers used tear gas against protesters last October, though protests have continued.